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Description

Versatile, durable and affordable, plastic materials are inescapably embedded into every aspect of our daily activities. Plastic materials make significant contributions to society’s sustainability needs through energy efficiency, food preservation and clean water distribution. However, society is challenging the plastic industry and application supply chain to address the negative sustainability implications of ever-increasing consumer demand, especially the current management of end-of-use waste.

This presentation will provide some perspective on the sustainability challenges of the current linear economic model for plastics, from feedstocks to end-of-use, and on what steps are needed to achieve the benefits offered by a more circular economic.

Topics and illustrations will include: the environmental impact of plastic waste, the effectiveness of the “re-triad” of reduce/reuse/recycle, feedstock recovery technologies, product redesign for circularity, extended producer responsibility and the role of public policy. Suggestions will be made for how chemists and plastic professionals can ensure that plastics are recognized as a source of global sustainability solutions and responsible growth.

About the SPEAKER:

Ken Miller is a consultant with 34 years of research and sustainability leadership experience in the chemical and plastic industries.

From 2009-2014, Ken was the Senior Director for Sustainability at SABIC™ (Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation). SABIC is globally one of the largest diversified suppliers of chemicals, polymers, engineering thermoplastics, fertilizers and metals. Ken joined SABIC’s corporate team in 2009 to launch its global sustainability initiative where the focus has been on developing sustainable strategy, metrics and solutions throughout the value chain of its product businesses.

Prior to SABIC, Ken was a global product and process engineering general manager for several major product lines at General Electric Plastics. Ken is the author of more than 40 patents, is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and has led an award-winning sustainability product design team. Prior to his career at GE Plastics in 1980, Ken investigated bio-inorganic catalysis at the Charles F Kettering Research Laboratory.

Ken has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio and a doctorate in chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, where he is an adjunct faculty member.